**6. The master's degree in circular economy at the University of the Basque Country**

## **6.1 Starting point of the master's degree in circular economy**

The University of the Basque Country is a public research university, deeply rooted in Basque society, open to the world, with an intellectual leadership and an ethical and social commitment. Its mission is to nurture a cultivated population by providing quality education and training based on knowledge, innovation and equity.

As it happens with other organizations, the University of the Basque Country considers UN 2030 Agenda and its SDGs as a model or framework that can accommodate the high quantity of the programmes implemented in recent years. In this area, certain degrees and research projects showed that SDGs were not unrelated

#### *Fostering Education for Circular Economy through Life Cycle Thinking DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98606*

to who we were or what we did when the UN initiated this agenda in 2015. These degrees and projects promoted a human rights culture, gender equality policies, the development of university cooperation, as well as environmental management or joint projects alongside organizations operating in the third sector [6].

Aligned with the policies mentioned in previous sections, the University of the Basque Country has supported different teaching experiences related to the so-called Life Cycle Thinking or Ecodesign in collaboration with some local Institutions in the last two decades.

The kick-off for these experiences was established in 2002 with the foundation of the Ecodesign Learning Center at the Faculty of Engineering in Bilbao [35].

The Basque Ecodesign Center (www.basqueecodesigncenter.net) is a partnership framework between firms in the private sector and the Basque Government. It aims to foster the design and execution of innovative ecodesign projects. Besides, Ihobe (www.ihobe.eus/home) a publicly owned company under the auspices of the Basque Government's Ministry for the Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment supports the Basque Government in the implementation of its environmental policy and in the spreading of the environmental sustainability culture in this region.

Boosted by Ihobe, the Basque Ecodesign Center and the Sustainability Directorate of the University of the Basque Country, in October 2019 the university launched the first edition of a postgraduate course about circular economy (consisting of 36 ECTS. At that moment, a new master's degree with 60 ECTS for the next academic year was on its way. This new master, entitled "Circular Economy: Business Application", places a special emphasis on the aspects related to ecodesign and product life cycle thinking [36].

It should be noted that these studies were a necessity for the Basque Country, as there was no master's degree or training of these characteristics neither in our region nor in neighboring regions, and our industrial fabric needed this type of officially regulated courses.

## **6.2 Facts of the master's degree in circular economy; business application**

The master's degree in Circular Economy [36] takes place from September to June (**Table 1**) plus the Master's thesis to complete the 60 ECTS required to obtain the degree.

The maximum number of students has been fixed to 25 and more than 35 associate professors, full professors and professionals from the governments and industrial sector take part in it. Candidate students are sought among engineers and economists working in local-regional industry, service companies or public administration. Courses are imparted at the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Economics and Business in Bilbao.

The courses are programmed with participatory and active learning methods such as flipped classroom, jigsaw techniques or Problem Based Learning (PBL). Other aspects such as interactivity, non-dogmatism and reciprocity are taken for granted.

Regarding the organization of teaching, each subject has a digital learning platform or course management system (Moodle) where teachers can upload the content of their classes as well as additional material for students to consult previously (flipped classroom method) or later. In addition, classes can be followed online through the university's own videoconferencing platform integrated in the course management system. In this way, students who are confined or unable to attend classes for justified work reasons can follow the explanations of the teachers from home.


**Table 1.**

*Courses of the master's degree in circular economy for the 2020-2021 academic year.*

As a whole, the course is evaluated by means of a survey prior to the commencement of the course, together with a special face-to-face session at the end of the course in which the students present their learning experience and from which the strengths and weaknesses of these master's degree are extracted. In addition, at the end of each course a small survey is carried out to find out the students' opinion of the teaching methodology.

Besides, the academic board of the master's degree offers voluntary internships in companies. Only a small number of students are interested in these internships because the majority of them are professionals with more than 10 years of experience.

The academic board of the master's degree is considering the possibility of the course becoming an Erasmus Mundus master's degree in the future. This would require teaching agreements with several European universities. It is not considered urgent because the initial intention of the sponsors is to respond to a local educational need and not so much the exchange and mobility of students and professors.

In summary, the main strength of the course is the multidisciplinarity of its topics and courses, together with the wide representation of professionals representing the most important industrial sectors of the region.

#### **6.3 Life cycle thinking: ecodesign and life cycle assessment**

The transformation towards a more circular business model requires information about the inputs and outputs of different systems and processes, all of this together with the measurement of their impacts, data management and data exchange across the value chain.

What is the right way to assess and communicate impacts? Through the concept, acknowledgement and implementation of Life Cycle Thinking incorporates this evaluation of the environmental, economic and social aspects of the products (material goods or services).

*Fostering Education for Circular Economy through Life Cycle Thinking DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98606*

Life Cycle Thinking allows industries to go beyond traditional linear thinking and focuses on production and disposal by including environmental, social, and economic impacts of a product over its entire life cycle, that is, from cradle to grave and, consequently allowing a more holistic assessment, highlighting, comprehension and possible prevention/reduction of impacts [37].

The courses closely related to Life Cycle Thinking make up 9 ECTS, which are divided into 3 modules consisting of 3 ECTS:

Ecodesign and Circular Economy


Overall, emphasis is made on how ecodesign serves to reduce the environmental impacts associated with a product along its whole life cycle. It also points out the relevance of servitization - or Product System Service (PSS) - as a more sustainable new business model. Within an ecodesign framework, it also describes the methodology for LCA thoroughly using different software tools. It also provides a deeper understanding of these matters by the calculation of different footprints. All of this will enable students to get a wide and deep overview on the concept of Environmentally Conscious Design.
